EBR school board member to teach in Okla., but remain on board

EBR school board member to teach in Okla., but remain on board

Freeman plans to serve rest of term

East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member and LSU associate professor Craig Freeman has accepted an offer to teach at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, this fall but plans to serve the remainder of his term on the School Board.

Freeman said he, his wife, Torii, and their kids likely will remain here for the 2014-15 school year, meaning he will maintain his residence in Baton Rouge. At OSU, he plans to teach journalism.

Freeman was elected to the School Board in fall 2010 and his term ends Dec. 31. Freeman months ago announced he was not planning to run for re-election for the District 6 seat.

Freeman has been an active board member and part of a slim six-member majority that set most of the agenda during his term. He has been an avid supporter of Superintendent Bernard Taylor since Taylor started here in 2012. Freeman has sought unsuccessfully to persuade the board to renew Taylor’s contract, which expires in 2015, citing improvement in test scores, the creation of new “superintendent academies” for overage students, the creation of Mayfair Lab School and the ongoing rebuilding of Lee High.